WINDHAM COUNTY- Kingdom County Productions and Marlboro College have announced an ambitious line-up for their inaugural 2013-14 performing arts showcase series of music, theater, dance, and circus events to be staged in Brattleboro, Putney, Marlboro, and Bellows Falls. The artists scheduled represent, among them, three Grammys, more than a dozen Grammy nominations, an Obie and Drama Desk award, two Tonys, a Tony nomination, and an Emmy.

The performance season will open with Obie-winning playwright and musician Ethan Lipton and His Orchestra, performing Lipton’s sly and irreverent personal musical ode to unemployment, “No Place to Go.” With no livelihood but a lively soundtrack, Lipton explores the anxieties of a temp worker in post-recession America. “Well, try to imagine those sharp-toothed worries nattering away to the wail of a saxophone and the downbeat of a bass,” wrote New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley after Lipton’s recent performance at Joe’s Pub at the NY Public Theater. “Throw in some sliding guitar licks too. Now conjure up a general feeling of the kind of dark, secluded club where a worried man needs to be, instead of in his bed, at 3:35 am. Showtime is 7:30 pm, Saturday, September 28, at the Whittemore Theater at Marlboro College.

On Sunday, October 5, Emmy-winning actor Gordon Clapp will play Robert Frost in A.M. Doyle’s humorous and poignant play, “Robert Frost: This Verse Business” about the great American poet who, for 45 years, traveled across the nation sharing his enduring verse, dry wit, and “promises to keep.” Clapp is known for his role as Mike Medavoy on “NYPD Blue” and his Tony-nominated performance as instigator Dave Moss in the Broadway revival of David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Film credits include Clint Eastwood’s “Flags of My Fathers” and John Sayles’ “Matewan,” “Eight Men Out,” and “Return of the Secaucus Seven.” Showtime is 7 pm at the Whittemore Theater, Marlboro College.

The Grammy-nominated British early music vocal ensemble Stile Antico will perform “Choral Treasures of the Rennaissance,” 7 pm, Wednesday, October 9, at Persons Auditorium, Marlboro College. Working without a conductor, the singers perform as chamber musicians, each contributing artistically to a musical result that is praised for its vitality and commitment, expressive lucidity, and imaginative response to text. Their program includes work by 15 composers representing a range of styles, from the intensity and fervor of the Flemish masters, to the distinctive and exquisite sound-world of Tudor and Jacobean England, to the polychoral fireworks of Vivanco and Praetorius.

On Friday, November 8, 1960s folk music icon and raconteur Arlo Guthrie will take the stage at the Latchis Theater for an evening of music and riffing on whatever happens to float into his mind. His digressions are ironic and funny, even goofy. But they always carry his trademark passion to illuminate the pressing issues that face our world. Showtime is 7:30 pm.

Clown Bob Berky might speak through a kazoo, mime a hell-bent ride on a motorcycle, amble out on the stage wearing camouflage and goggles to spy on imaginary birds, or get tangled up in a loopy battle of man vs. machine. Regardless, Berky’s antics are infectious, impertinent – and lots of fun. He has coached Michelle Pfeiffer – and performed at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and The Smithsonian. Berky will perform at 2 pm, Sunday, December 8, at Next Stage Arts in Putney.

Part ballet, part modern, part street dance, Ballet Jazz of Montreal defies categories with its delicious blend of hip, funky moves infused with infectious energy, humor, and imagination. This internationally renowned repertory troupe continues to evolve with all of the vitality and spirit of exploration for which it has been known since 1972. The dancers will take the stage at the Bellows Falls Opera House at 7 pm, Sunday, January 26.

The hands-down favorite at the 2011 New Orleans Fringe Festival, Goat in the Road Theater’s new play “Instant Misunderstanding” takes viewers into a world where past and present collide in a whirlwind of sandwiches, phone conferences, tea, and computer commands as two brothers, Johannes and Johannes Gutenberg, struggle to invent the Internet and propel themselves into an uncertain future. Performed by William Bowling and Christopher Kaminstein, and written by the duo with Northeast Kingdom native Sascha Stanton-Craven, show time is 7:30 pm, Friday, February 7, at Marlboro College’s Whittemore Theater.

And at 7 pm, Thursday, February 20, two of America’s top Tony-winning theater troupes, The Acting Company and The Guthrie Theater will perform Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” at the Latchis Theater. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, Shakespeare’s play dramatizes the revenge Prince Hamlet exacts for his father’s murder, setting him on a journey to seek personal meaning and come to grips with his own mortality.

In addition to these Windham County performances, KCP will also present a concert just outside the area when Taj Mahal’s World Blues comes to the Lebanon, NH, Opera House at 7 pm, Wednesday, November 6. Two-time Grammy winner Mahal will lead a musical evening that includes acclaimed South African folk/blues guitarist/vocalist Vusi Mahlasela and the New Zealand blues/rock band Fredericks Brown.

Tickets for all Kingdom County/Marlboro College series events are now available online at KingdomCounty.org or by calling (11 am to 6 pm) (888) 757-5559 or (802) 748-2600. When available, discounted rush tickets will be placed on sale 48 hours before each show that is not sold out in advance. To receive notification contact series producer Jay Craven at jcraven@marlboro.edu.